PATNA, India (AP) — Officials in India say at least 37 people were killed when a train ran over a group of Hindu pilgrims at a crowded station early today.

They say a mob then pulled the driver from the train and beat him severely. They also set fire to the train cars.

The officials say flames and dark smoke could be seen billowing out of the cars several hours after the accident, as protesters blocked firefighters from the station in eastern India.

A railway official says the train was not supposed to stop at the station and had been given permission to pass through. But he says some pilgrims waited on the tracks, thinking they could stop the train.

A local parliament member said the train driver had been killed, but the railway official says the driver is hospitalized in critical condition.

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153-r-05-(Sound of woman wailing as a relative tries to comfort her, at site of rail accident)–Sound of a woman wailing as she is comforted by a relative at the site of the rail accident. COURTESY: India’s Entertainment and News Communications Network ((mandatory on-air credit)) (19 Aug 2013)

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154-r-04-(Sound of people talking and shouting, at site of rail accident)–Sound of people gathering at the site of the rail accident. COURTESY: India’s Entertainment and News Communications Network ((mandatory on-air credit)) (19 Aug 2013)

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APPHOTO DEL113: Indian villagers carry an injured person through a rail track after a train ran over a group of Hindu pilgrims at a crowded station in Dhamara Ghat, Bihar state, India, Monday, Aug.19, 2013. At least 37 people were killed. A mob infuriated by the deaths beat the driver severely and set fire to coaches, officials said. (AP Photo) (19 Aug 2013)